That was good work, James, I will keep a copy to look at as I go. I know it is true that in some localities, say one county, that the name is spelled one way and in the next census after a move it is spelled another way. That was true in 1830 Newton Co.Ga. my Thompson Reeves and all other persons with our surname to my knowledge were recorded as REAVES. That was the only time I know that Thompson was recorded in a census as anything other than Reeves. There are a couple of things that I think apply at least some of the time or did in those days. I have been told by knowledgeable people or read that persons really thought they were more sophisticated if they could spell the same thing various ways. Sometimes it was in a legal document more than one way. Also (this one is my thinking,) The cenus takers got a few cents for each name written down. Over muddy or mountainous terrain I would thing they would jot it down as quickly as possible. They would want to get on the way . What a temptation to put it down just the way they thought it sounded and not ask too many questions. James, you were talking about the family coming from N.C. to S.C. then Ga. The pathway that led from S.C. to Ga. was the Savannah River. In a book about title transfers in the Pendleton Dist. S.C. He showed many transfers of property between Reeves and other individuals as they moved down the tributaries of the Savannah River down to Savannah and Georgia. Jasper, Jackson and Gwinnett were fairly near the River area and were some of the first homes of the family. I am sure something similar happened from S.C. to Kentucky my searching is limited there. Tommie